‘Pink slime’ beef additive is used in CISD school lunches

Andrea Bolt

Published
6:00 pm CST, Friday, March 9, 2012

“Pink slime” sounds more like a super hero or villain in a children’s comic book, not an ammonia-based additive put in school lunches.

Officially known as “Lean Finely Textured Beef,” the artificial additive is made up of chemically treated meat and connective tissue. The low-grade trimmings reportedly are the most contaminated parts of the cow and were once only used in dog food and cooking oil.

According to Debbie Zemanek, director of Child Nutrition for the Conroe Independent School District, LFTB has been on the menu in CISD schools since the early 1990s.

“It’s everywhere,” she said. “It’s in beef used in restaurants, in grocery stores.”

USDA guidelines state it is not required to provide labeling stating whether the filler is included in beef products.

The pink color of the meat filler is a result of it being treated with ammonia hydroxide in order to kill bacteria and pathogens that cause food-borne illnesses.

Zemanek said the USDA states 6.5 percent of its total volume of beef contains LFTB.

“We (CISD) have to follow very stringent guidelines that have to be approved by the USDA and we have to look for the USDA label on everything,” she said.

She was unaware whether beef containing the filler was more cost effective for the district.

Montgomery Independent School District Director of Child Nutrition Carolyn Watson said MISD does not buy beef with LFTB.

“It’s not in our specifications (for beef used in school lunches),” Watson said. “I hope they (CISD) would get it out of their specifications.”

Paul Dusebout, Willis Independent School District director of Child Nutrition, said WISD doesn’t receive beef from the USDA.

“About 10 or 11 years ago, concerns with raw beef products arose and we got away from it to increase the safety for our children,” Dusebout said.

In Magnolia ISD, the district receives a “minimum amount” of ground meat directly from the USDA, according to Kim Ohlendorf, director of Child Nutrition, and the rest comes from Glazier Foods, an independent distributor based out of Houston. Glazier Foods gets beef from Bar-W Foods, and Magnolia ISD recently received a letter from Bar-W Foods Vice President of Operations Louis A. Ciferni stating that the company “does not use” leanly fine textured beef in production.

USDA does not indicate whether its meat contains the leanly fine textured beef in the products Magnolia ISD receives, Ohlendorf said. Magnolia ISD Superintendent Todd Stephens said that everything purchased from the USDA, however, comes with an assurance of safety, and the district hasn’t received any concerns or recalls on that beef. About one-third of the food budget is spent on beef products, Ohlendorf said, and the district menu offers ground meat as an item two to three times a week, with two additional selections daily.

According to an ABC News report, “pink slime” is in 70 percent of the ground beef sold at supermarkets and up to 25 percent of each American hamburger patty, by some estimates.

H-E-B relseased a statement from H-E-B Director of Public Affairs Cyndy Garza Roberts: “H-E-B ground beef is 100% pure - H-E-B has never and will never use additives. H-E-B ground beef is also from Texas.”

According to Zemanek, CISD has used $318,591 of beef in the 2011-12 school year.